dAVID: There’s no terrible urgency, is there? It is not a matter of life or death. There is a normal consultative process in progress so that the legislation is framed properly. We Conservatives are honestly not the Devil incarnate. Well, most of us aren’t, anyway! ;)

One good thing about this intervening period is that it is producing discussion, and is enabling religious bigots in the Catholic Church hierarchy and other reactionary institutions to expose their nasty attitudes to the public, which is something that is backfiring on them and driving more support in our direction.

If there is one thing I would like to see more than equal marriage, it is the collapse of the Catholic Church hierarchy, together with all the other bigoted religious institutions that blight our lives.

There are folks who want a blessing in their houses of God – they should be allowed this. Think is unfair that priests etc. can refuse to deal with groups purely down to sexuality, & they get away with it.

I know to a lot of people a church wedding is what they want, & it annoys me that a group of celibate pensioners in the Catholic church can say what is right & wrong & who can marry who.

God’s blessing means nothing to me, but to some, means a lot. Why should they be denied?

We are on different sides of the spectrum politically, but I wanted to encourage you not to rule out the possibility of meeting a decent guy and getting married one day, if that’s something you would like to do!

I think that equal marriage will make LGBT people and our relationships much more mainstream, and I think that a result of that will be that it is easier for us to meet compatible life partners in mainstream society, without having to go to gay pubs and clubs or onto “dating” websites, which don’t seem to me to be very satisfactory for enabling people to make contact with kindred spirits, or encouraging people to think in terms of long-term one-to-one relationships.

It does seem to be particularly difficult for lesbian and gay people to meet life-partners. I know a lot of heterosexuals find it difficult as well, but we have the added hurdle of marginalisation to deal with.

…Because giving voters less choice in who to vote for is always a good thing, right? Not to mention the fact that the Lib Dems have consistently supported equal rights for LGBT people in every single vote! I think I’d rather keep them if it’s all the same to you.

Pleasantly surprised that this has come from Lord Ashcroft, although there is surely no inconsistency with with Tories supporting SSM? A party that believes in individualism, relative freedom from big government and stable relationships would of course support SSM.

But I think you are kicking and banging your head against an unlocked door where equal marriage is concerned. It is on the cards.

Even if it wasn’t, as important as equal marriage is for our society, there are surely more serious injustices against LGBT people to get worked up about and direct energy towards.

In most “Moslem” countries, homosexuality is illegal, and in some you can be flogged, imprisoned or put to death for it.

I think we should keep up the pressure for full equality in our country, but at the same time, we should try to keep our situation in proper perspective. There are LGBT people in other countries who need our help.